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                                                                                                 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI 
                                                                                        DEPARTMENT OF FOREST ECONOMICS 
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                                  Environmental Marketing Strategy and its 
                                                            Implementation in Forest Industries 
                                   
                                   
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                     Jari Kärnä 
                                                                                                                     
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                   
                                                                                             Academic Dissertation 
                                   
                                   
                                           To be presented, with the permission of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry of the 
                                     University of Helsinki for public defence in Auditorium XII of the University main building 
                                                                 Aleksanterinkatu 5, on Friday 11th April 2003 at 12 o'clock. 
                                   
                                                                                                                     
                   
                   
                  Environmental Marketing Strategy and its Implementation in Forest Industries 
                                                   Academic Dissertation 
                   
                   
                  Opponent:           Professor Juha S. Niemelä  
                     Seinäjoki Institute for Rural Research and Training 
                     University of Helsinki 
                     juha.s.niemela@helsinki.fi 
                   
                   
                   
                  Supervisor:         Professor Heikki Juslin 
                                      Department of Forest Economics 
                     University of Helsinki 
                     heikki.juslin@helsinki.fi 
                   
                   
                   
                  Pre-examiners:      Professor Hanna Pesonen 
                                      School of Business and Economics 
                     University of Jyväskylä 
                     hpesonen@tase.jyu.fi 
                   
                   
                     Professor Harri Westermarck 
                     Department of Economics 
                     University of Helsinki 
                     harri.westermarck@helsinki.fi 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                  Author's address:  
                  Jari Kärnä 
                  Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Centre 
                  PO Box 18, FIN-01301 Vantaa 
                                     
                  jari.karna@metla.fi
                   
                   
                   
                                                              
                                              ISBN 952-10-0963-2 (paperback) 
                                                 ISBN 952-10-0964-0 (pdf) 
                                                     ISSN 1236-6226 
                                                  http://ethesis.helsinki.fi 
                                                 Hakapaino, Helsinki 2003 
                                                              
                                                              
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         Abstrakti 
          
         Väitöskirja käsittelee ympäristöasioiden integrointia metsäteollisuusyritysten ja heidän 
         teollisten asiakkaidensa markkinoinnin suunnitteluun. Tutkimus koostuu neljästä julkaistusta ja 
         kahdesta julkaistavaksi hyväksytystä tieteellisestä artikkelista sekä yhteenveto-osasta, jossa 
         tarkastellaan ekologista markkinointia ja yritysten yhteiskunnallista vastuuta teoreettisesti sekä 
         kuvataan tutkimuksen empiiristä lähestymistapaa. Tutkimus perustuu kvantitatiiviseen 
         haastatteluaineistoon suomalaisesta, ruotsalaisesta, saksalaisesta, brittiläisestä ja läntisestä 
         pohjois-amerikkalaisesta metsäteollisuudesta. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan eroja maiden ja 
         tarkempien teollisuudenalojen välillä sekä luokitellaan yrityksiä vihreyden ja 
         yhteiskuntavastuuarvojen perusteella. Teoreettiselta kannalta tutkimuksessa testataan 
         ekologisen markkinoinnin logiikkaa ja hypoteettisia hierarkiayhteyksiä 
         markkinointistrategioiden, -rakenteiden ja -toimenpiteiden välillä. Tulosten mukaan suurin osa 
         haastatelluista yrityksistä painottaa ympäristöasioita arvoissaan, markkinointistrategioissaan  ja 
         toimenpiteissään. Metsäteollisuutta ei voida syyttää ”viherpesusta”, vaikka ympäristöasioiden 
         integrointi markkinointiin voisi olla syvällisempääkin. Vapaata markkinataloutta arvoissaan 
         painottavat ”proaktiiviset vihreät markkinoijat” toteuttavat ekologista markkinointia 
         vapaaehtoisesti ja pyrkivät saavuttamaan ympäristöystävällisyydellä kilpailuetua. Tulokset 
         antavat myös tukea tutkimusta ohjanneen markkinoinnin suunnittelun kokonaismallin 
         olettamuksille vihreiden arvojen, markkinointistrategioiden, -rakenteiden ja -toimenpiteiden 
         loogisille yhteyksille. Tutkimuksen tuloksia voidaan käyttää (metsä)teollisuusyritysten 
         strategisen markkinoinnin kehittämiseen erityisesti ympäristöasioiden integroimiseksi 
         markkinoinnin suunnitteluun. 
          
         Abstract 
          
         This dissertation analyses the integration of environmental issues into the marketing planning 
         of forest industries and their industrial customers. The study consists of four published 
         scientific articles and two manuscripts accepted for publication. A review section considers 
         environmental marketing and corporate social responsibility from a theoretical point of view, 
         and presents the empirical approach of the study. The study is based on quantitative interview 
         data among Finnish, Swedish, German, UK, and western North American forest industries.  
         Differences between countries and industry sectors are analysed and companies are classified 
         based on their environmental activity (greenness) and responsibility values. From a marketing 
         theory perspective, the logic of environmental marketing is analysed by studying hypothetical 
         hierarchical relationships between marketing strategies, structures and functions. The results 
         suggest that most of the surveyed companies emphasise environmental issues in their values, 
         marketing strategy and its implementation. The industry should not be risking accusations of 
         “greenwashing”, even though the integration of environmental issues into marketing planning 
         could be deeper. “Proactive green marketers” emphasising a free market system in their values 
         are the most genuine group in implementing environmental marketing voluntarily and seeking 
         competitive advantage through environmental friendliness. The results also give evidence that 
         green values, environmental marketing strategies, structures and functions are logically 
         connected to each other as hypothesised according to the model of environmental marketing 
         used to guide this study. The results of this study can be used in developing strategic marketing 
         of (forest) industry companies especially concerning integration of environmental issues into 
         marketing planning. 
          
         Keywords: Green marketing, Corporate social responsibility, Strategic marketing, Forest 
         industries, Forest certification
                      
          
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         Preface 
          
         This study would not have been possible without financing provided by two institutions. The 
         Finnish, German and UK data collection for this study was collected in the context of the EU 
         funded research project FAIR-CT95-766 under the fourth framework programme. A grant from 
         the Academy of Finland in the context of the Finnish Wood Wisdom research programme 
         enabled the Swedish data collection. I express my warmest gratitude to the European Union 
         research framework and the Academy of Finland.  
          
         I am particularly indebted to my supervisor Heikki Juslin who constructed the overall research, 
         organised the EU funding and provided me with encouragement and experienced advice 
         throughout the work. I am also grateful to the Department of Forest Economics for facilities at 
         my disposal. Friends and colleagues working at the department have given valuable comments 
         and positively influenced this study by creating enthusiastic, versatile and enjoyable 
         interaction. I am especially grateful to Eric Hansen for being a co-author and for checking the 
         language of the manuscripts during his visiting year at the department. I am grateful to the 
         following people who enabled this study by being co-authors or by collecting the field data 
         during their studies at the Department of Forest Economics: Fredrik Steineck, Virpi Ahonen, 
         Jarno Seppälä, Anne Manner and Peter Tietz. Roger Naylor from the Department of Forest 
         Economics checked the language of the review section. During the EU research project on 
         potential markets for certified forest products, the following colleagues enabled the Central 
         European data collection for this study: John Samuel and Roger Cooper from the University 
         College of North Wales, Tobias Kühn and Michel Becker from the University of Freiburg, and 
         Ewald Rametsteiner and Peter Schwarzbauer from the University of Agriculture in Vienna. 
         Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to my beloved companion Sanna and to my children Santeri 
         and Samuli. 
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
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